Anthony Nicholl Rail
Anthony Nicholl Rail, a.k.a. Tony Rail, Unitarian, scientist, educator, and historian, was born in East Ham in 1945 of Cornish parents. Rail’s father, Frederick Rail was a ships’ boilermaker from Falmouth, his mother, Carrie Gwendoline May from Polgooth.
Biography
Educated at East Ham Grammar School (1957-1964), Rail was appointed assistant scientific officer at the National Chemical Laboratory, subsequently absorbed into the National Physical Laboratory; and later to Davall Electronics of Perivale, developing components for military aircraft. 1967-70, he studied Chemistry at Sir John Cass College, after which, in 1970 he was appointed tutorial assistant to Sir Ronald Nyholm at University College London, with whom he carried out some important work on organoarsenic complexes. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1973; the same year appointed research fellow at Leeds University. In 1974 Rail switched to schoolmastering at , He married Hilary Bowman in 1971, with whom he has four children: Christopher (1975), Elisabeth (1976), Philippa (1981) and Hannah (1985). His wife died in 2002, following several years’ ill-health.
Rail went on to take an active part in developments in education. Whilst working at Leeds, Rail became interested in the Unitarian, scientist and political agitator Joseph Priestley. Rail went on to study Unitarianism and the history of the English Enlightenment.
Chemical science
Working at University College London, Rail discovered several new reactions of the important bidentate ligand (Diars), and its transition metal complexes. He investigated carbon-arsenic cleavage reactions, in collaboration with Nyholm, discovering the eponymous ligand condensation reaction, the Nyholm-Rail reaction, the mechanism for which, Rail showed to involve a nickel(III) intermediate. Rail corrected previously misreported results of adducts between Diars and compounds such as CBr<sub>4</sub>, showing that though such adducts can be prepared as metastable intermediates, they rapidly decompose to the pentacyclic C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>4</sub>(As(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>)<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>.
Exploiting developments in electron spectroscopy, Rail studied the stereochemistry of low spin Nickel(II) complexes, discovering several new isomeric pairs. Rail prepared the first known complexes of the Chromous halides with tertiary arsines, which he showed are so reducing they will reduce water to hydrogen, and must be prepared in exceptionally oxygen-free and moisture-free environments. He investigated the chemistry of 5,10-Dihydro-5,10-dimethylarsanthrene.
Metereological science
For years Rail has argued for better global husbandry of limited natural resources such as fossil fuels, Copper and speciality metals such as Indium and Gallium. His opposition to the politicization of the alleged link between carbon dioxide and climate change, may seem somewhat ironic. However, it is exactly because the CO<sub>2</sub> debate has become politically important, that it needs to be investigated and discussed impartially. Rail’s opposition is not to the idea of regulating the use of fossil fuels, it is with the “bigoted, cliché-laden and catchphrase-ridden rhetoric” associated with the “Carbonists,” an opprobrium first coined by Rail to describe those who intolerantly insist anthropogenic carbon dioxide to be the only significant cause of climate change. In a privately published, widely distributed pamphlet, Rail recites the usual arguments against the ‘Carbonists:’ that CO<sub>2</sub> is neither the only, nor the most significant of gasses showing the so-called ‘greenhouse effect;’ that CO<sub>2</sub> released in burning fossil fuels is largely, if not totally reabsorbed by an increase in current global biomass; that the solubility of carbon dioxide in water, including sea water, is frequently overlooked. As he justly points out, a rise in water temperature of just one celsius leads to the release of some four-percent of the dissolved carbon dioxide. “If atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased in coastal areas, where most measurements are made, it is more likely to be the consequence of the oceans becoming warmer, rather than the cause.”
Rail insists that climate variation or climate change should be studied as a regional rather than global phenomenon. Quite small shifts in wind direction, he tells us, can have a colossal effect on regional climates. Diminishing arctic ice may be attributed to changes in wind patterns in the northern hemisphere. A small shift in wind direction across the arctic can drive sea ice further south, increasing ice-melt. This in turn increases the sub-oceanic counter drifts, affecting the overall energy transfer from the tropical to the temperate zones.
Rail goes on to show that one factor in wind directions that has not as yet been quantitatively modelled is the effect of Urban Thermal Plumes, a term that Rail himself first introduced. Rail has not the resources to produce a detailed mathematical model of how UTPs might affect weather systems, but he quite rightly points out that where large UTPs exist, they may well have an impact on macrometeriological systems, and should be investigated. Rail accepts that there is no conclusive or detailed evidence that UTPs have anything like the influence on climate change that he speculates. Nonetheless, he is right to ask the question. Rail adds:
“Urbanization not only creates Urban Heat Islands and from some of those UTPs, but also invites a concentration of commerce, which in turn demands the large commuting workforce that is so wasteful to precious fuel resources.”
Biography
Educated at East Ham Grammar School (1957-1964), Rail was appointed assistant scientific officer at the National Chemical Laboratory, subsequently absorbed into the National Physical Laboratory; and later to Davall Electronics of Perivale, developing components for military aircraft. 1967-70, he studied Chemistry at Sir John Cass College, after which, in 1970 he was appointed tutorial assistant to Sir Ronald Nyholm at University College London, with whom he carried out some important work on organoarsenic complexes. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1973; the same year appointed research fellow at Leeds University. In 1974 Rail switched to schoolmastering at , He married Hilary Bowman in 1971, with whom he has four children: Christopher (1975), Elisabeth (1976), Philippa (1981) and Hannah (1985). His wife died in 2002, following several years’ ill-health.
Rail went on to take an active part in developments in education. Whilst working at Leeds, Rail became interested in the Unitarian, scientist and political agitator Joseph Priestley. Rail went on to study Unitarianism and the history of the English Enlightenment.
Chemical science
Working at University College London, Rail discovered several new reactions of the important bidentate ligand (Diars), and its transition metal complexes. He investigated carbon-arsenic cleavage reactions, in collaboration with Nyholm, discovering the eponymous ligand condensation reaction, the Nyholm-Rail reaction, the mechanism for which, Rail showed to involve a nickel(III) intermediate. Rail corrected previously misreported results of adducts between Diars and compounds such as CBr<sub>4</sub>, showing that though such adducts can be prepared as metastable intermediates, they rapidly decompose to the pentacyclic C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>4</sub>(As(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>)<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>.
Exploiting developments in electron spectroscopy, Rail studied the stereochemistry of low spin Nickel(II) complexes, discovering several new isomeric pairs. Rail prepared the first known complexes of the Chromous halides with tertiary arsines, which he showed are so reducing they will reduce water to hydrogen, and must be prepared in exceptionally oxygen-free and moisture-free environments. He investigated the chemistry of 5,10-Dihydro-5,10-dimethylarsanthrene.
Metereological science
For years Rail has argued for better global husbandry of limited natural resources such as fossil fuels, Copper and speciality metals such as Indium and Gallium. His opposition to the politicization of the alleged link between carbon dioxide and climate change, may seem somewhat ironic. However, it is exactly because the CO<sub>2</sub> debate has become politically important, that it needs to be investigated and discussed impartially. Rail’s opposition is not to the idea of regulating the use of fossil fuels, it is with the “bigoted, cliché-laden and catchphrase-ridden rhetoric” associated with the “Carbonists,” an opprobrium first coined by Rail to describe those who intolerantly insist anthropogenic carbon dioxide to be the only significant cause of climate change. In a privately published, widely distributed pamphlet, Rail recites the usual arguments against the ‘Carbonists:’ that CO<sub>2</sub> is neither the only, nor the most significant of gasses showing the so-called ‘greenhouse effect;’ that CO<sub>2</sub> released in burning fossil fuels is largely, if not totally reabsorbed by an increase in current global biomass; that the solubility of carbon dioxide in water, including sea water, is frequently overlooked. As he justly points out, a rise in water temperature of just one celsius leads to the release of some four-percent of the dissolved carbon dioxide. “If atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased in coastal areas, where most measurements are made, it is more likely to be the consequence of the oceans becoming warmer, rather than the cause.”
Rail insists that climate variation or climate change should be studied as a regional rather than global phenomenon. Quite small shifts in wind direction, he tells us, can have a colossal effect on regional climates. Diminishing arctic ice may be attributed to changes in wind patterns in the northern hemisphere. A small shift in wind direction across the arctic can drive sea ice further south, increasing ice-melt. This in turn increases the sub-oceanic counter drifts, affecting the overall energy transfer from the tropical to the temperate zones.
Rail goes on to show that one factor in wind directions that has not as yet been quantitatively modelled is the effect of Urban Thermal Plumes, a term that Rail himself first introduced. Rail has not the resources to produce a detailed mathematical model of how UTPs might affect weather systems, but he quite rightly points out that where large UTPs exist, they may well have an impact on macrometeriological systems, and should be investigated. Rail accepts that there is no conclusive or detailed evidence that UTPs have anything like the influence on climate change that he speculates. Nonetheless, he is right to ask the question. Rail adds:
“Urbanization not only creates Urban Heat Islands and from some of those UTPs, but also invites a concentration of commerce, which in turn demands the large commuting workforce that is so wasteful to precious fuel resources.”
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